My Football Fantasy: Season #3

College League: Squid wins, 68.36-55.47 (1-0 overall, 6th place out of 12 teams)
Vermont League: Squid loses, 110.02-76.78 (0-1 overall, 11th place out of 12)
My Player of the Week: Kenny Britt (Wide Receiver, Titans) with 5 receptions for 136 yards and two touchdowns plus one solo tackle


Photo via National Football Authority

The NFL season kicked off this past weekend and with it, my third year in fantasy football. I am in the same two leagues as last year with essentially the same set up for each. I am now the commissioner of both leagues. In the college league, they rotate each year. I intend to use my pulpit to initiate some discussions about the long-term parameters of the league, perhaps even to write up a league constitution. We're mostly in discussion stage at the moment, but it's a league filled with people with clearly strong feelings but nothing permanent in writing. So the league is essentially reinvented each year. I'd like to establish some order to the proceedings. It's a tall order but it can be done!

I made only one minor change to the college league parameters: the elimination of divisions. I don't like the way Yahoo! uses - or, more to the point, ignores - divisions when it sets the league schedule. So, why bother?

The Vermont league parameters are exactly the same this year. Due to scheduling issues, I had to auto-draft in that league this year - a first for me. Who knows? If I have a better season, I might stick with it.

I'm also trying to apply my very successful fantasy baseball strategy to football this year. It's admittedly difficult to discuss without divulging too many specifics but the dynamics of individual positions are very different in football. This, along with the increased prevalence and severity of injuries, complicates things. It's impossible to judge from one week. If I improve on my final standing in both leagues, I'll know I'm on to something.

The New 52: Justice League International

Title: Justice League International
Issue: #1
Release: September 2011
Writer: Dan Jurgens
Artists: Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan


Image via Inside Pulse

Justice League International (JLI) was first launched in 1987. According to Wikipedia, part of the idea has always been a lighter, more comical interpretation of the superhero team concept. One notable difference between this book and the other New 52 titles I've tried so far is that this one is generally set against a light-colored background. Most are set against dark colors. There is definitely a jauntier feel to it all. Booster Gold, leader of the team, is a buffoon.

I have no problem with the idea of satire, of course. But I figure, if you're gonna go in that direction, go all the way. One of the many books Mock has sent my way was Alpha Flight v.3 #1 from May 2004, a comical interpretation of a Marvel group dating back to 1979. It is genuinely funny from beginning to end. Apparently, the idea wasn't too popular with most readers, though. That particularly series only survived through 12 issues.


Image via AlphaFlight.net

Four of the eight original team members in this relaunch are female. That's a definite plus, though I hope at least one of them will offer something more in the personality department than the "sex kitten" role currently assigned to Godiva.

JLI #1 did not pass my curiosity test, making it 0-for-3 for New 52 Week #2. Just as with Stormwatch, I don't see that this team offers anything better than what one would get from the original Justice League. That said, I do think this series has some potential. I'll address specifics in the spoilers section.

It's been fun to follow this series with Mock, of course. He commented with a very interesting link regarding Action Comics #1. He also clued me into the purple-hooded lady who makes Hitchcock-like cameos in each of the New 52 #1s. It took me a while to find her in JLI, but she's there.


*****SPOILER ALERT*****


I see a lot of potential in the contentious relationship between Booster Gold and Guy Gardner. It could also be interesting to follow Batman's role in the story. The bombing of the Hall of Justice is certainly a shocking development and flies in the face of the series's light-hearted nature. That's not necessarily a bad thing, either.

US Open Day 15: Leaving No Doubt

Curtain Call

Player: Novak Djokovic
Age: 24
Nation: Serbia
Current Ranking: 1
Today's Result: defeated Rafael Nadal (2nd seed, Spain) in four sets


Photo via CLBuzz

Novak Djokovic is the best player in the world. If there were any doubt before tonight, it's all gone now. Nadal put up a beautiful fight but in the end, Djokovic's victory seemed inevitable. Will he be able to even come close to matching this effort next year? It will be a tall order. He'll have significant points to defend at nearly every event he plays. He is the king until proven otherwise but I actually see Federer mounting a resurgence in 2012 - just when no one expects it.


My Tennis Fantasy

Current Overall Ranking: 16th
My MVP for the Week: Novak Djokovic with $1,800,000

My Baseball Fantasy: Playoffs

Private League: bye week
Public League: 1st place out of 12 teams, 14 points ahead
My Player of the Week: Ian Kinsler (Second Baseman, Rangers) with 3 home runs, 10 runs, 4 RBI, 1 stolen base and a .423 batting average


Photo via Nolan Writin'

I had the week off in the private league. Friend and fellow blogger Marc won his quarterfinal matchup so now we go head-to-head in the semis. In the meantime, all is going swimmingly in the public league. Kinsler has been nothing short of awesome recently. Over the past 30 days: 10 home runs, 28 runs, 21 RBI, 3 stolen bases and a .303 batting average.

US Open Day 14: Serena

Curtain Call

Player: Serena Williams
Age: 29
Nation: USA
Current Ranking: 27th
Notable Conquests: Caroline Wozniacki (1st seed, Denmark), Victoria Azarenka (4th, Belarus), Ana Ivanovic (16th, Serbia) and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (17th, Russia)
Today's Result: loss to Samantha Stosur (9th, Australia) in straight sets


Photo via connect.in.com

She is the world's greatest female athlete - end of discussion. That said, her behavior on court today was absolutely inexcusable. The chair umpire made the right call. Even if she hadn't, resorting to personal attacks on the umpire's character is well out of line. Nonetheless, Serena Williams had an outstanding tournament.

Samantha Stosur is a deserving champion. Let that, too, be the end of the discussion. Between Li, Kvitova and Stosur, there were three first-time Slam champions on the women's side this year. That is well worth celebrating.

I'm with the Band: Illinois

Band: Marching Illini
University: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Founded: 1907
Current Director: Barry L. Houser
School Song: "Illinois Loyalty"
Fight Song: "Oskee Wow Wow"



The Marching Illini boast many firsts: the first college band to use Sousaphones, the first to play a halftime show, the first to sing acapella on the field, etc. Not surprisingly, any band in America which has ever earned any form of praise from J.P. Sousa himself is eager to trumpet the fact. The great band leader once called the Marching Illini the "World's Greatest College Band."

This is Professor Houser's first year directing the organization. Amazingly, he is only the eighth director of the Marching Illini in its 104-year history. There's nothing quite like tenure to get someone to stick around.

Illinois has not one but two school songs. "Illinois Loyalty" is the main school song but "Oskee Wow Wow" is the one they play after touchdowns and such. I couldn't find composer info for "Illinois Loyalty" but "Oskee Wow Wow" was written by Howard Green and Harold Hill (he of The Music Man fame?) in 1911.


All This and Football, Too

My Picks for the Week: 15/20 (tied for 1st out of 3 players)
My Picks for the Season: 28/40 (3rd out of 3)

I picked three underdogs this week: Hawaii, Cincinnati and Michigan. Michigan was the only one that won, though it didn't help me too much as the other two guys picked them, too. Once again, I would have done better just to pick all favorites.

US Open Day 13: Kerber

Curtain Call

Player: Angelique Kerber
Age: 23
Nation: Germany
Current Ranking: 92
Notable Conquests: Agnieszka Radwanska (12th seed, Poland) and Flavia Pennetta (26th, Italy)
Today's Result: loss to Samantha Stosur (9th, Australia) in three sets


Photo via Intentional Foul

Prior to this event, Kerber had never even made it past the third round of a Slam. In last year's US Open, she didn't even make it out of the first round. This result will give her ranking a huge boost.


Golden Squid Update Jurgen Melzer - I love the second career Melzer has found for himself in doubles. I think doubles could prove a career extender for loads of top singles players as the doubles specialists tend to have longer careers - less mileage on the wheels. Melzer and his pal Philipp Petzschner (Germany) won the US Open men's doubles, their second Slam title as a team. They defeated Mariusz Frystenberg and Marcin Matkowski (6th, Poland) in straight sets.